About Us

Welcome to Phoenix Rising Saddles! Our mission is to continue our mom, Brenda Imus’, mission of providing comfortable tack and sound riding and training advice for gaited horses and their owners. We help horses of all types, gaited and non-gaited, and their owners maximize their comfort on the trail! Our original line of humane tack includes the Imus 4-Beat ® and Phoenix Rising Legacy Saddles, 2nd Generation Imus Comfort Bits, Ride N Tie Halter Bridles, and more are unique and effective. You will be amazed at the efficacy of these well-thought out and time-tested techniques and products. We offer 14 day Trials on all our products and expert fitting advice. We’re here to support you, too, once you receive your products. We want to ensure every product is a perfect fit for you and your horse. Visit our site for free natural gait training articles and videos!

We help horses of all types, gaited and non-gaited, and their owners maximize their comfort on the trail! Our original line of humane tack includes the Imus 4-Beat ® and Phoenix Rising Legacy Saddles, 2nd Generation Imus Comfort Bits, Ride N Tie Halter Bridles, and more are unique and effective. You will be amazed at the efficacy of these well-thought out and time-tested techniques and products. We offer 14 day Trials on all our products and expert fitting advice. We’re here to support you, too, once you receive your products. We want to ensure every product is a perfect fit for you and your horse. Visit our site for free natural gait training articles and videos!

After my mom’s passing on March 23, 2013 I spent a lot of time contemplating about what to do with my mom's mission and products. I felt a responsibility to somehow carry on her legacy but knew I needed to ensure I was making an informed and responsible decision about how, and to what extent, I would do so. Whatever I chose to do I would go about it with 100% commitment so it was important to me and my family that I define the path, plan, and then execute said path with unparalleled gusto and determination.

So…the decision was made to bring back her products to their original outstanding quality--namely the Imus 4-Beat ® saddle and her Imus line of bits-- and also make available for free her wealth of knowledge she acquired and so freely shared through her articles, books, and DVD's. We will continue to expand the product line and also remind those who have not yet “gone gaited” that her products work fabulously for our non-gaited horses as well, while making a few modifications of products to that end where needed. By the way, ALL of our products are made in the USA (and many of them locally!).

MY BACKGROUND:

I grew up on a horse with my mom teaching me everything I know (everything I know--not everything she knew!). Countless hours with her on the trail, in the barn and truck with the trailer bumping behind, have become some of my most treasured memories of growing up. It helped forge a lifetime bond that was never weakened.

After college and teaching 3rd grade for one school year, I began to work for her to help her keep up with her growing business. She had just received the first prototypes of the Imus 4-Beat ® saddle and had a few that were being “test-driven”. She was also working on her line of bits and had just begun hitting the road doing clinics. Gaits of Gold was in its infancy (see theAbout Brendapage to read about her journey!) and she needed someone to help shoulder the responsibility of running a business so she could be free to focus on her mission of helping gaited horses and their owners learn humane ways of riding and gait-training through her writing and clinics. Mom knew what she was doing and was the creative type and was getting stifled trying to handle it all.

Fast forward 5 years and GOG had exploded! We made a great team, along with my brother Zack as webmaster (more about him in a minute). We were all thrilled how the word spread like wildfire about finding a new way to train and ride gaited horses that bucked tradition and also helped pull the deeply rooted veil of inhumanity off the faces of cruel and/or just ignorant trainers and training methods.

I ended up parting from GOG to pursue a new career and start my family. I have an amazing husband, Josh, and a beautiful 4 year old daughter, Sophie. I worked for 5 years managing sales and customer service programs for a contact center and have been able to work closely with many experts in both fields with major clients such as Sunsetter Awnings (who, by the way, havethemost customer-centered, honest, and fair approach to customer service that I've ever encountered, and after which we have modeled much of our own), Tempur-Pedic, the FDIC and Verizon to name a few. The knowledge base I’ve gleaned from working there ties in perfectly with the relaunch of the Imus line of products and start of our company. It was an invaluable experience in which I learned a lot about what to do and also what not to do.

After my mom's passing in March of 2013 Zack went into overdrive to preserve my mom's original Gaits of Gold website and the wealth of information she had there. I worked to establish relationships with the vendors who previously made her products, and several new ones. Zack built our original Phoenix Rising Saddles website and we launched in September of 2013 and have been constantly working to uphold our mom's legacy. (Read: In Praise of Horse Mom's HERE.

ZACK’S BACKGROUND:

Invaluable in his assistance with the initial launch and subsequent web support in this endeavor is my brother, Zack, who is a web developer. Zack launched and ran our mom's Gaits of Gold website for five years back in the early 2000's, during the time I was running the business. Although Zack is a busy man, owning his own pressure washing business and having two young sons, he's still available to help with the occassional SOS!

The amount of support we've received has been humbling. The stories people share about our mom and the impact she has made on their relationship with their horses is always a bright spot in my day and reinforces that we made the best decision about what we're doing. I feel that we're doing it right and making her proud.

Thank you all who have supported us--it's been an awesome trip so far and I thoroughly enjoy everything about it.